Star Wars | Episode X: The Edge of Destiny

Chapter 23: Beaumont Kin

Willing the doors of his office open---we rush inside.  Followed closely behind me: Finn, Poe, Chewie, and a handful of heavily armed security officers.  We remain silent as we walk in together to his office.  I see Beaumont ahead of us at his desk.

"What's the meaning of all this?" he asks standing up from his desk chair.

With the Force, I close the doors firmly behind us and lock them.  I reach out and grab his throat with the power of the Force. I watch as he scrambles for air and grabs aggressively at his neck to release the invisible hold.  Slowly, I watch with pleasure as I lift him off the ground.  His legs kick and squirm---realizing he's powerless against me. 

Static pressure builds in my ears.  The sound of Poe screaming at me to stop is drowned out by dark whispers.  I cannot understand what they are saying---so I squeeze tighter. Not enough to break his neck but hard enough to watch him suffer---I like it. The color of his face is turning a deep purple.

Right before my eyes completely blacken, Finn swings at my extended arm---hitting my right elbow. My focus is broken and Beaumont falls to the floor and collapses. 

I gasp for air.  Poe swings me around and grabs my face with his hands.  He shakes his head 'no' but doesn't utter a sound.  Looking at me with his empathic fly boy eyes; I feel reassured by their gaze.  He can sense how violated I feel right now.  

I watch as Finn runs to the fallen body on the floor and grabs him by his coat---flinging him up against the wall.  Beaumont chokes as he gasps for air and attempts to regain consciousness.

Briskly, I walk over to them. Anger is rising again in my heart and all I can think about is slowly draining the life from his pathetic body---painfully.

"Who do you work for!" Poe screams coming up behind Finn. 

Beaumont's head rolls to the side and starts to chuckle through the breaths.  "Pathetic, you all are! You only figured it out because he told you."  

His eyes turn towards me and the rest of the room turns to glance at me.  Finn refuses to turn his head and is still fixated on Beaumont.

The image of the dark Force user comes to my mind's eye.  I can't hold it back anymore.  I push Finn out of the way and Beaumont falls to the floor once more.  I can feel the darkness coursing through my veins.  Reaching out to the power of the Force, I take hold of his entire body and suspend him in the air.  He's unable to move his limbs but I allow his head to move freely. I want to hear him suffer and see his face contort in agony.

I go inside his mind easily.  I find his weakness---fear of anacondans.  The image of terror in his mind causes me to smirk with joy.  "Now I know how to hurt you." 

Using the Force, I send a wrapping serpentine pressure around his suspended body.  Not strong enough to kill him---just enough to get the answers I want. His head falls back as the air from his lungs is squeezed from it. I sense the flashbacks and fear replaying over and over in his mind.

I let the anacondan squeeze go for a minute.  His screams start to dull and I can feel his energy draining. 

"Tell us," I say softly. "Tell us now!" I scream as his face draws a grin. "You don't want this to continue, now, do you?" I tilt my head.  I can feel his dark energy clouding my mind. 

He lets out an exasperated laugh.  "You fool!" he screams to the ceiling.

I apply an extreme, squeezing pressure around him one more time for a short duration.  His head falls backward as he is using his remaining strength to lift it back up to stare at us. "Your father was a failure, Rey!  We will not fail him! We are better!" 

I let his body fall to the floor.  It crashes with a loud thud against the red carpet.  The surrounding guards do nothing and just watch.  I sense through the Force they are afraid to question my actions now. 

Finn walks over to him, "Tell me who you work for!" 

Beaumont's broken body twitches on the floor.  He exhales hard and blinks slowly. I walk over to the side of his body and lift his torso by his coat.  His head bobbles as I shake his coat to get him to look at my eyes.  

His eyes meet mine.  "Tell us now!" I scream at him.

Beaumont's face focuses on me. "You have his eyes, Rey," he smirks.

Before I can react, he slaps the side of this thigh with his left hand.  

"No!" 

I release his coat and his now lifeless body flails on the floor.  Foam forms in his mouth and a small trail of blood runs out the corner of his eyes.  His eyes glaze over and the last thing he sees is the portrait of Leia on the wall.  Poe reaches down and sees the small dart implanted on his thigh. 

"Poison.  Take this and have it analyzed," Poe holds it up for a guard to grab.  "Go!" he screams as the guard rushes out the door. Poe's face turns to look at me with concern.

I collapse on the backs of my legs.  Finn comes down and lifts me. I stand on my feet and turn to him.  I can feel his strong hands wrap tightly around my tense shoulders.

"Rey...your eyes," Finn's face draws concern.

"What are you talking about?"

"Rey, they are an orangish-red," Poe says as he turns to look at my face. 

"What?"